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tv   ABC World News Tonight With David Muir  ABC  December 30, 2017 5:30pm-6:00pm PST

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too. >> too hypoer. there you. >> that does it tonight, the new year's deep freeze. america in the grip of an arctic blast of life-threatening cold and snow coast to coast. and the deadly menace on the highways. will 2018 bring any relief? holiday on alert. vigilance in times square and at other new year's celebrations. the extraordinary show of force both seen and behind the scenes. swatting death. >> show your hands! >> police responding to what they thought was a violent domestic assault, killing an unarmed and innocent man. that call was a prank. the alleged caller arrested more than 1,000 miles away. cutting edge clue. the break in a cold case. the suspect of a brutal murder brought in after police used his brother's dna to find him. and jackpot ripoff?
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the waitresses who shared a friendship, and allegedly a winning lotto ticket. now one says the other cashed it in and disappeared. good evening. thank you for joining us on this saturday. i'm dan harris in for tom tonight, and we begin with the unrelenting and deeply unpleasant cold. as the clock ticks down to 2018, the thermometer is ticking down as well. tonight, more than 200 million americans dealing with an arctic blast. winter weather alerts from the rockies to new england, even into the deep south. snow and ice making for dangerous travel. trucks and cars skidding off the road here in michigan. 40 vehicles in all, and look at the map. the windchills could be at their worst just as the new year arrives. 11 in dallas. minus 5 in times square. kicking us off tonight, eva pilgrim with america on ice. >> reporter: record cold temperatures sweeping the country tonight, bringing a
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freezing end to 2017. >> yep, it's cold. for sure. >> it's bitter cold. >> reporter: windchill alerts at this hour from colorado to maine fresh on the heels of a frigid christmas week for the east. >> it's really, really cold. i can see my breath. >> reporter: the bitter blast now fatal. at least two dead of hypothermia. windchills below zero all afternoon in chicago, and feeling like the teens here in new york. it doesn't make much when the temperatures are this cold to make the roads freeze. on top of those dangerously low temperatures, snow. in buffalo, where they should be used to this -- me.i haven't seen this in a long >> reporter: erie, pennsylvania seeing a half foot of snow overnight. their weekly total now topping 6 feet. icy conditions making traveling treacherous in iowa. >> there's a big truck right here. whoa, whoa. right in front of us! >> reporter: causing this 40-car pileup in michigan. a consider slipping and sliding in illinois, and in indiana, one
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killed in a head-on crash. this trooper responding to four crashes in under an hour. >> it's pretty hectic out here. the roads are pretty slick, there's slush all over the place. >> eva joins us live from a cold central park tonight. eva, this weather is about to get worse? >> reporter: oh, yeah, dan. it is brutally cold right now, and for most of us, it is going to get even colder. expect a number of record lows to be shattered on new year's day, dan. >> eva, thank you. let's bring in our meteorologist cindy fitzgibbon of our boston station. she is in times square tonight with the new year's forecast. cindy? >> reporter: hi, dan. it snowed here in times square earlier today, and as quickly as that moved out, yet another blast of arctic air is invading much of the country as we wrap up 2017. take a look at how it's going to feel tomorrow. windchills in chicago, they stay below zero all day long, and in new york city, it will never feel higher than the single digits, and as the clock dips
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down toward midnight, the temperatures downright dangerous in the midwest. minneapolis, feeling 26 degrees below zero. the dangerous cold dipping into the deep south. just 11 in dallas. that's what it's going to feel like to ring in the new year. as we head into the first week of the new year, it looks like this dangerous cold is sticking around for millions. >> just what everybody wants to hear i'm sure. thank you. that cold adding another degree of difficulty to an already daunting security challenge here in new york city tomorrow night. the new york city fire department will be on the scene providing medical support to anybody overcome by the elements. abc's marcus moore is also in times square tonight. >> reporter: an unprecedented security effort taking shape, tonight at the crossroads of the world -- barricades, already in place and police officers with a watchful eye at nearly every corner. >> you will see a stronger police presence than we have seen, even in recent years. >> reporter: for the very first time, police officers screening
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hotel and restaurant guests near time square for explosives and weapons. bomb sniffing dogs, a network of 10,000 cameras, and police officers in subways and in the air, ready to respond. >> i feel safer. >> definitely feel more safer. >> yeah. >> reporter: but along with security, there's the weather threat. those bone chilling temperatures stretching as far south as texas. ft. worth's outdoor new year's event canceled because of "extreme temperatures" in new york, officials warning revelers who will be standing outside for hours to dress appropriately. with this thermal camera we see just how important it is to keep that all important body heat close. that red and orange color capturing heat escaping. with windchills during the ball drop expected to feel like the single digits, officials bracing for the possibility of medical emergencies. >> marcus moore joins us live now in times square. we know authorities are worried about folks getting frostbite tomorrow night. what is the plan for treating people who get sick? >> reporter: dan, we're talking about people here who could be exposed to the elements for hours tomorrow here in times square. there are emergency crews that will be in place, as well as emergency lanes to move people
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to the hospital if needed. we are seeing barricades in times square. and police are on guard as the stage is being set for tomorrow night's big show, dan. >> marcus moore, thank you very much. we move on now to the bizarre police-involved shooting in wichita. police drawn to a home by a prank caller who reported a fake crime. this is called swatting, and in this case, the prank cost an innocent man his life. here's abc's erielle reshef. >> reporter: tonight, an innocent man gunned down by an officer in wichita. all part of what authorities are calling a deadly case of swatting. >> last evening's officer-involved shooting is a tragic and senseless act. >> reporter: 25-year-old tyler barris arrested in california believed by police to be the cryptic voice in this bogus 911 call. >> i shot him in the head and he's not breathing anymore. >> reporter: barris allegedly saying he shot his father then describing a sinister plan -- >> i already poured gasoline all over the house so might just set it on fire. >> reporter: police racing to an
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address the caller provided. when they arrived, a man identified by family as 28-year-old andrew finch was standing at the screen door. bodycameras rolling as officers commanded finch to raise his arms. at first he complies but then police say he dropped his hands. >> he feared that the male had just pulled a weapon from his waistband, fired one round striking the male. >> reporter: but finch was unarmed. >> i want answers. i want answers. >> reporter: now wichita police and the fbi investigating whether the fateful prank call was made after a fight between online gamers that authorities say may have had nothing to do with finch. >> really feeling for his family, and erielle joins us here live. we're learning that the suspect here in this case has been accused of this crime before? >> police are telling us this is the same suspect who served time in jail for phoning in bomb threats to our abc station in los angeles in 2015, and tonight, we know he is being
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held on a fugitive warrant. >> thank you. we turn now to a horrific crime rocking a small city in upstate new york. even the police in troy, new york are shaken by what they call savagery. a property manager was asked to check on a family the day after christmas. he found the bodies of two women and two children. the youngest just 5 years old tonight. two suspects have been charged. the police say one of them knew one of the victims, but they have not said what allegedly triggered the violence. to politics and he is the young man whose name many of us never heard before. now george papadopoulos is at the red, hot center of the russia investigation, and tonight, a new report as to how he first came onto the fbi's radar. here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: tonight, new reporting about how u.s. authorities may have first learned about russia's attempts to meddle in the 2016 election. reportedly because of what a former trump campaign adviser told an australian diplomat at this london wine bar in may of 2016. according to "the new york
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times," trump adviser george papadopoulos boasted to australia's ambassador to the uk alexander downer that russia had political dirt on hillary clinton. the australians eventually passed that tip on to u.s. authorities. according to the paper, that was reportedly two months later, about the time that hacked dnc e-mails started appearing online. papadopoulos, who recently pled guilty to lying to the fbi, was part of the trump campaign's national security and foreign policy team seen here at a meeting with candidate trump. the president posted a picture of that meeting at the time. but later, disavowed it. >> i don't remember much about that meeting. it was a very unimportant meeting. >> reporter: as for papadopoulos, trump insisted, few people knew the young, low level volunteer named george, who has already proven to be a liar. but papadopoulos' fiancée told george stephanopoulos all of his work on behalf of the trump
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campaign was coordinated with top levels of the campaign. >> as far as i know, absolutely, yes. and he never took an initiative without the blessing of the campaign. >> reporter: tonight, the president's lawyer declined to comment to abc news about "the times" story, out of respect for the special counsel and his process. >> david wright joins us now from florida. part of the significance of the story in "the times," it may clear up what exactly sparked this russia investigation. if it's true. >> reporter: exactly so, dan. assuming this story checks out, that means that back in july of 2016, the fbi started its investigation, not as a result of the so-called dossier compiled by a former british spy from russian sources and paid for by democrats, but rather because of credible intelligence from a trusted foreign ally. dan? >> david wright in west palm beach. thank you. we turn overseas to iran. a third day of unauthorized protests, and president trump is
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weighing in. demonstrators gathering in several cities, protesting the economy and government corruption. some even blasting the country's supreme religious leader. president trump tweeting in support of the protesters twice today saying, opressive regimes cannot endure forever, and, the world is watching. back in the states. a suspect under arrest in a cold case in texas where a woman was stabbed to death. the case unsolved for more than a year. the police employed a tactic called familial testing. here's abc's marci gonzalez. >> reporter: after more than a year and a half of painstakingly trying to figure out who brutally murdered natliya shal on mother's day, 2016, tonight, a suspect is finally behind bars. tracked down police say using a controversial type of dna testing. >> this is pretty rare. >> reporter: police say the killer's dna was found at shal's home in baytown, texas where she was stabbed to death but there was no match in the database. so, investigators tried "familial" testing, which
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searches for dna markers genetically similar to other violent offenders. it led them to an inmate whose brother then became the prime suspect. >> our detectives were able to identify a person of interest in the case as 29-year-old byron collins of baytown. >> reporter: police say then using dna from a discarded cigarette, they were able to link collins directly to the crime scene. >> you are charged with capital murder. >> reporter: familial dna testing is only used in several states and some call the method an invasion of privacy. but it has been pivotal in some high profile cases including, in california where it was used to help capture the serial killer known as the "grim sleeper." and as for the suspect in texas, he has not yet entered a plea, dan. >> marci, thank you. we are going to switch gears now to the dueling lottery jackpots. no winner's in last night's drawing. combined with tonight's powerball jackpot, more than $700 million now up for grabs, but we have a cautionary tale. if you are splitting those tickets with other people.
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here's abc's gloria riviera. >> reporter: lotto winner, mandy vanhouten told arkansas officials after claiming this $300,000 prize, she was going to use the money to make her life easier. but tonight some coworkers inside arkansas' sportsman drive-in are claiming not all of it is hers. >> reporter: according to staff, it's tradition for the boss there to give out lotto tickets for christmas. waitress leslie underwood says she split ten with mandy. >> he told us whatever we won would be split between us for a christmas bonus. >> reporter: so when leslie, a mom of five, saw this photo of mandy cashing in without her -- >> it's a little emotional. >> reporter: she says she was crushed. only mandy signed the back of the ticket. according to arkansas state lottery rules, that signature means it's hers. mandy, staff say, hasn't been back to work since she won -- tonight with both the mega million and powerball jackpots over $300 million for just the second time in history, many are dreaming big lotto dreams. >> send my daughter to college.
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>> buy the hotel i have always wanted to run. >> spread it around, and i would live comfortably. >> reporter: and that powerball drawing for $384 million is tonight. as for mandy, we reached out for her repeatedly, but those calls went unanswered, dan. >> gloria, thank you. we will be watching that drawing tonight. coming up here on "world news tonight" this saturday, you will not have to wait to get your new cheaper iphone replacement battery. the surprise move by apple today. why a present you got for christmas could be useless. the gift card scam you need to hear about tonight. and serena williams back on the court. how she fared in her first match since having a baby just months ago. keep it here. i didn't really know anything about my family history. went to ancestry, i put in the names of my grandparents first. i got a leaf right away. a leaf is a hint that is connected to each person in your family tree. i learned that my ten times
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great grandmother is george washington's aunt. within a few days i went from knowing almost nothing to holy crow, i'm related to george washington. this is my cousin george. discover your story. start searching for free now at ancestry.com what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ a trip back to the dthe doctor's office, mean just for a shot. but why go back there, when you can stay home, with neulasta onpro? strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection, which could lead to hospitalizations. in a key study,
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neulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17% to 1%, a 94% decrease. applied the day of chemo, neulasta onpro is designed to deliver neulasta the next day, so you can stay home. neulasta is for certain cancer patients receiving strong chemotherapy. do not take neulasta if you're allergic to neulasta or neupogen (filgrastim). ruptured spleen, sometimes fatal as well as serious lung problems, allergic reactions, kidney injuries, and capillary leak syndrome have occurred. report abdominal or shoulder tip pain, trouble breathing or allergic reactions to your doctor right away. in patients with sickle cell disorders, serious, sometimes fatal crises can occur. the most common side effect is bone and muscle ache. so why go back there? if you'd rather be home, ask your doctor about neulasta onpro. and we're back now with a scam that could put a real damper on your holiday season. if you gave or received a gift card, there is a chance you have been ripped off.
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here's abc's adrienne bankert. >> reporter: if you purchased gift cards as presents this year there could be a grinch draining them. >> i was shocked. >> reporter: just two days after josh layton bought this walmart gift card for his mom a thief was apparently using the card's number. >> this gift card had been used at three different times. >> reporter: layton checked the card's balance, which plainly shows those charges, what's left, just 47 cents. >> it never left my wallet. >> reporter: security experts f unused cards that are out in the open. then wait until somebody buys them. >> if the bad guys know those card numbers, they can keep checking them and seeing if anybody has activated them, and then they can loot them. >> reporter: layton says he reached out to walmart, but didn't get his money back. walmart tells us, it has protocols in place to protect our customers from criminal behavior. the retail gift card association suggests that you try to buy cards behind the counter, but buy them online directly from the retailer and register them
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as soon as you get them. >> and we have adrienne here with us live, so the key here is to treat your gift cards like cash? >> we have heard it time and time again, but experts are saying you want to use those sooner rather than later. it gives crooks less time to steal your balance. >> great advice. adrienne, thank you. we'll see you back here tomorrow on "gma." coming up here on the show, arrested in a notorious e-mail scam. this man is neither nigerian nor a prince. why he is now charged with hundreds of counts of fraud. and a test run for the new year's eve ball drop. how did it perform in a freezing times square? we'll tell you coming up next. how did it perform in a freezing times square? we'll tell you coming up next. zd for her compassion and care. he spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. but to help others, they first had to protect themselves. i have afib. even for a nurse, it's complicated... and it puts me at higher risk of stroke. that would be devastating. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself. once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. xarelto®... to help keep me protected. once-daily xarelto®, a latest-generation blood thinner...
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replacement iphone batteries. apple came under fire for admitting aging batteries can slow down phones. the company responded by lowering prices on replacements from $79 to $29. and it was supposed to take effect next month, but they moved it up to today. in louisiana, a man under arrest accused in the nigerian prince e-mail scam. he is charged with 269 counts of wiring fraud and money laundering. he is charged of being a middleman collecting money and wiring it to alleged co-conspirators in nigeria. he frauded people out of thousands of dollars. serena williams returning to the court for the first time in nearly a year losing in an exhibition match. she last played against her sister, and revealed she was pregnant at the time. she gave birth to a baby girl in september. an amazing comeback. and finally, times square
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getting ready for its close-up. a dress rehearsal for the new year's eve ball drop. everything went as planned. at least a million people are expected to brave the extreme cold tomorrow night to usher in 2018 in classic new york city style. i will be firmly planted on the couch, meanwhile. coming up next here on the show, stepping out from behind the camera. the abc news cameraman who brought the vietnam war into america's living rooms. his incredible story, next. alright, and before that? you mean after that? no, i'm talking before that. do you have things you want to do before you retire? oh yeah sure... ok, like what? but i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement? we're absolutely doing that. but there's no law you can't make the most of today. what do you want to do? i'd really like to run with the bulls. wow. yea. hope you're fast. i am. get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change. investment management services from td ameritrade. trust #1 doctor recommended dulcolax. use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. suppositories for relief in minutes.
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and dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax. designed for dependable relief. but when we brought our daughter home, that was it. now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. every great why needs a great how. that cough doesn't sound so good. take mucinex dm. i'll text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night! why take 4-hour cough medicine? just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. let's end this. he's a nascar champion who's she's a world-class swimmer who's stared down the best in her sport. but for both of them, the most challenging opponent was...
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pe blood clots in my lung. it was really scary. a dvt in my leg. i had to learn all i could to help protect myself. my doctor and i choose xarelto® xarelto®... to help keep me protected. xarelto® is a latest-generation blood thinner... ...that's proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots from happening again. in clinical studies, almost 98% of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. here's how xarelto works. xarelto® works differently. warfarin interferes with at least six blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective... ...targeting just one critical factor, interacting with less of your body's natural blood-clotting function. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor as this may increase risk of blood clots. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. if you've had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain
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or any nerve or muscle-related signs or symptoms. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures and before starting xarelto® about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. you've got to learn all you can... ...to help protect yourself from dvt and pe blood clots. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. there's more to know. and finally here tonight, the story of an abc news legend and a friend to many of us here. you probably don't know his name because he worked behind the camera. in fact, he worked the actual camera, making his mark on the battlefields of vietnam. here's abc's juju chang. >> this is the story of the vietnam war. >> reporter: dispatches from
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combat zones. courtesy of talented photojournalists who were risking their lives. one of the best, now stepping out from behind the camera. in his memoir, as we call him, tony hirashiki, describes nearly the ten years, he spent covering the war in vietnam. he was there when roger peterson was shot in front of his very eyes. >> he was shot in the arm and in the finger. i threw my finger and started to do something, but i just was sobbing and crying. >> reporter: he braved the dangers alongside the best and the brightest abc had to offer like sam donaldson, peter jennings, and this rookie. >> this is ted koppel, abc, near south vietnam. >> reporter: for three decades, through his viewfinder, he captured a first draft of televised american history. he retired a few years back, but this generation of anchors like
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bob woodruff and david muir will always remember him fondly. >> do you remember any of those early stand-ups? >> one time i remember just ten minutes before -- no. all right, the show started, and you came -- make sure i don't make a mistake. >> i came to you in the show and was already on the air. >> yeah. >> nothing's changed. well, thank you for having patience for all of us, all these years. >> you are one of my correspondents too. >> and i'm proud of that. i'm proud of that, tony. >> thank you. >> great man. thank you for watching tonight. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "gma." tom is back here tomorrow. again, thanks for watching. good night.
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tonight on abc 7 news at 6, we're following breaking news. a man shot and killed on the peninsula. plus new year's eve expected to be a blast with final touches on the bay area's biggest celebration. and drew tuma tracking the new year's eve forecast. abc 7 news a a a a a a thanks for joining us. right away to that breaking news where police shot and killed a man in red wood city. tiffany wilson is live there for us with new details. >> reporter: dion, as you can tell this is still a very active scene. investigators have been here for
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hours. the intern police chief said this started when a woman drove to the bank to get money outside the atm. she immediately called officers quickly surrounded the area. police say the suspect was pacing, acting very agitated and refusing to cooperate. some of those officers recognized the suspect. in fact they've known him since he was a child and asked him repeatedly to drop his gun. after a few minutes the suspect instead took a combative stance. >> he stopped, pointed it at the officers and shot in the office officers direction. the officers immediately returned fire. >> it escalated very quickly. qk >> reporter: none of the officers were injured. police say the